Original subtitles

In the previous episodes...

We must become a real political party.

Raise your hand, those who want to dismiss the government.

Bye bye, Giolitti.

You will make them all fall down.

Until your time comes, Benito.

And I will be ready.

- I intend to entrust the task of forming... - It's an honour, Your Majesty...

the government to the Honorable Luigi Facta.

We will wear them out in a relentless negotiation,

until we have obtained what we want.

Everything, that is.

That is, a ministry for me.

A socialist shot and killed comrade Florio.

No excesses!

An entire city in the grip of gangs of murderers.

They'll probably arrest us all.

They'll form a government without us, against us.

I wanted to become an MP.

You are war and peace, evil and cure, life and death. You are everything,

and the opposite of everything.

Good, adjust them well because now I'll smash them for you.

They even give them the salute. Assholes.

I was negotiating, for God's sake. And now?

Now I have avenged comrade Florio.

Avenged... One who asked for it,

just like you only looked for a pretext to shed blood.

Look here, we have become the absolute evil, we have become.

I don't care.

The King is negotiating with the socialists to bring them to government.

Here is the fruit of your masterpiece, genius.

The socialists are dead, I have annihilated them.

All the peasant and worker organizations in Italy

have called a strike against us.

You have annihilated us.

I see us in great shape.

The King was scared by the strike and has decided:

no socialists in government.

Excuse me, Mr Rossi.

The dead have dug their own graves.

The hardest part is done, all we have to do is know down this dying state, and it's over.

The final push.

And who cares about one or two ministries, we can take everything!

Well, the socialists are annihilated,

with this story of the strike they dug their own grave, or not?

Now let's give a push and knock down this dying state.

How can you not understand that?

Listen to me, forget about politics.

What's one or two ministries? We can take everything here.

Everything!

Gather as many comrades as you can.

What for?

- Comrade Balbo! - Here!

I want 20,000 black shirts. Let's give the push, now.

- You'll have them. - Go.

What? I've always loved dogs.

"Fascists, Italians,

the hour of the decisive battle...

..has struck."

Why are you dressed like that?

Eh, Facta's party.

Facta's party, that's a first-class funeral.

- So we're not going anymore? - Never crossed my mind.

Benito, you told me to confirm.

You misunderstood.

In 30 years of parliamentary life,

I have seen many difficult moments.

And this is just one of many.

- Congratulations. - To you, beautiful.

I trust that everything will be resolved by bringing the fascists to government.

A little seat, of course, nothing more.

To keep them happy.

Excellency, a word.

There are reports of black shirt rallies.

- Where? - In Naples.

It seems that Mussolini will speak at the San Carlo.

Naples, October 24th 1922

- There are tens of thousands... - Shh!

..30, 40,000, we can't hold them anymore.

Let her finish. A little respect for beauty.

Continue.

Please, continue. Continue.

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

We have come to Naples, from every part of Italy.

And Italy looks to this conference of ours

because, in the post-war Europe and the whole world,

there is no phenomenon more important, more original,

more powerful than Italian fascism.

It's true!

Duce! Duce!

Only we fascists can restore order

in a State that has once again demonstrated its impotence.

What kind of Italy do you want?

The one of the Bolshevik strikes?

No!

Or... the one that works, that prospers?

Yes!

Safe.

So, there is one and only one way.

Fascism must take power.

Duce! Duce! Duce!

- But the question... - Duce! Duce! Duce!

But the question is: how?

Legality or illegality?

Electoral conquests or insurrections?

Insurrection! Insurrection!

But we do not have to give the answer.

We are ready for anything!

Yes!

Because if the clash should be decided based on force...

..may victory be ours! We are worthy of it!

Hey! Hey! Alalà! Hey! Hey! Alalà!

Hey! Hey! Alalà! Hey! Hey! Alalà!

Blackshirts!

Either they give us the government or we will take it by descending on Rome!

Rome! Rome! Rome!

Rome! Rome! Rome!

Rome! Rome! Rome!

"The die is cast, now there is no turning back."

Either Rome, or death.

Idiot!

Dickhead!

Piece of shit!

Gentlemen, I give you the honor of leading the revolution.

At midnight, on the 26th of this glorious month of October 1922,

you will command our forces,

until the nation's conquest.

The plan is simple.

We will concentrate our forces around the Capital.

Santa Marinella, Mentana and Tivoli.

While your headquarters, the command of the insurrection...

..that is, you...

..will be here

in Perugia.

The revolution will have five phases.

Mobilization and occupation of public buildings,

concentration of our forces around Rome,

ultimatum to Facta to hand over power,

entry into Rome and taking possession of the ministries at all costs.

Any objections?

- Good. - And the fifth?

Which fifth?

You said that the revolution will have five phases.

In case of defeat, rapid retreat towards central Italy.

That's the fifth.

Dickhead.

Duce, no one despises this rotten Italy more than me.

Senile, lousy.

Homeland of castrated pacifists, but... I have doubts.

You have doubts, De Vecchi? It's typical of castrates to have doubts.

But the militias aren't ready. We don't have weapons, uniforms, or leadership.

Wake up, De Vecchi. We've been fighting for three years.

Yes, it's one thing to go against four ragged peasants,

- it's another thing to go against an army! - Shh!

Against a State.

De Vecchi, a State worthy of its name,

would now come through this fucking door

and arrest all of us.

It's a scandal that it's not happening. This is no longer a State.

What are you afraid of?

It's not fear, it's that...

Why the command in Perugia? It's not connected to anything.

Unpredictability, De Vecchi. They won't even see us arrive from there.

Because we'll never get there.

De Vecchi, defeatism is the worst defect of a soldier.

It's not defeatism, it's experience.

Yes, precisely because I know my job, I can tell you

we need more time.

Purid, senile, lousy little Italy,

homeland of castrated pacifist and cowards!

Don't you dare, you know. Don't you dare!

Or else? Or else?

Calm down! Gentlemen.

Come on, calm down.

Gentlemen.

Calm down. Calm down, gentlemen.

The revolutionary act of the march on Rome,

either takes place now or it will never happen again.

There is no government, the institutions are in tatters.

The King changes his mind every two minutes,

we mustn't give him time to recover.

The fleeting moment that the socialists were unable to seize

is now in the hands of fascism.

And we will not let it slip away.

- To us. - To us.

It's suicide.

As if I didn't know, of course it's suicide.

The army will tear us to pieces, it will.

Long live the Duce!

It's a ridiculous plan, I know it myself.

With the command cut off,

the garrisons concentrated hours and hours' walk from Rome...

Cheers, Mussolini!

...who will win?

To us!

Whose victory?

To us!

And I am against suicide.

They don't know, it's all a sham.

Marching, rising up, what are we, crazy?

To Rome!

To Rome!

"Pretending. Pretending to be ready to march,

pretending to rise up."

It's all a sham.

Which, to be credible, needs a certain amount of reality.

So, motion.

Lots of motion.

Blackshirts here, there, spreading the word.

They gather, march, rise up.

Oh God, give them more, give them everything they want!

General, is there anything to worry about, in your opinion?

- It depends. - About what?

About what you're going to ask us to do.

If you're going to ask us to stay in the barracks, the

then there's certainly something to worry about, Your Excellency.

There are many of them, they are exalted. They think they can do whatever they want.

If instead you ask us to defend the Kingdom...

Italians are 40 million, sir.

And they, in comparison, are just a small, ramshackle, riff-raff.

It is impunity that makes them seem strong.

If you let us do our duty,

no, there's nothing to worry about.

I believe that at the first shot all of fascism will collapse.

October 26th 1922

De Vecchi is right, because that general is right.

We are a rabble, and at the first shot... poof!

We would collapse like a house of cards. It mustn't shoot.

Make that four.

- Four shirts? - Shirts, underware, socks.

Four of everything, just in case.

Four.

Oh, and take the gala dress too.

The gala dress?

Rachele, anything can happen. I have to be ready for any eventuality.

From the most unfortunate, to the most glorious.

Go figure what is happening...

Rachele.

Listen carefully, in the next 48 hours

you and the kids have to stay at home.

You understand?

- Why? - Shh.

Here, 90 infantry companies, five artillery.

Here, 60 infantry, four military engineers.

Here, here, and here, we can gather, in two hours, 240 infantry units,

60 artillery units.

Where the army is not already stationed, we have 113 garrison

and territorial companies.

Put me in touch with Mussolini.

At once, Your Excellency.

Let's try to avoid all this.

There is nothing that a few seats in parliament cannot appease.

Mister Mussolini!

Mister Mussolini!

- What is it? - On the phone!

Come down!

Hurry up.

President Facta.

It is an honor for me to take part in a government presided over by you,

but you see, the enthusiasm, the energy,

fascism's drive for change,

a single ministry cannot tame that.

Goodbye.

Call him back.

- And you said no? - I can do better.

Remember Benito, perfect is the enemy of good.

- Have faith in your husband. - In you?

- Why, you have someone else? - I don't, what about you?

Rachele, in my life only three things matter.

You, our children and the homeland.

It is for you, only for you, that I do what I do.

Never cry.

Where are you going?

To provide for your future!

- To us! - To us!

We must not shoot, not even a shot.

Director, President Facta on the phone.

He's chasing me. Put him on the other line. Oh, Bianca.

- Yes? - You can go home. Day off.

All right, director.

Hello?

Facta, let's be clear.

Your offer must be improved,

let's say... five ministries.

Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Navy, Labor.

For less than this, I will not be able to keep the black shirts in check.

I give you until midnight to give me an answer.

Now excuse me, but I have to run.

We're starting to negotiate.

- Cesarino. - Benito.

Were you behind the door?

I knew you'd call me.

Cesarino.

No one must move before midnight.

Let's make it clear to everyone. We can't make a mistake now.

Now, you take my calls, you say you don't know where I am.

- Got it? - Crystal clear.

Good. I'll step away for a moment. Take care of it..

- But where are you going? With that suitcase? - I have to do something.

One thing.

Cesarino, I have a plan.

Mh-mh.

I'll reveal it to you at the right time.

Good.

Am I getting involved?

Of course.

- Sorry for the delay. - Where are we at?

I asked for five really important ministries.

Really?

Without me they won't make the government.

And the fear of the insurrection is eating them alive.

Why set limits?

The new, futurist man has no limits.

He runs, flies, tramples everything that stands between him and tomorrow.

What's up?

If we go to battle, they'll massacre us and then arrest us.

The futurist doesn't think about arrest. Never.

The important thing is that the dogs don't do anything stupid.

What's up, Benito?

It's that every time it's vital that the dogs don't screw up,

they promptly do it.

Boss, what are we waiting for?

Orders.

Boss, the boys don't like to wait.

And neither do I, but we have to wait.

It smells like the trenches. Of Piave.

Can you remind us again of how you did it in the war?

Like this, damn it!

Like this, damn it!

No, really, I... I don't understand. What are we doing here?

We occupy the prefecture and govern the insurrection.

Yes, but why here? In the middle of nowhere.

Far away from everything, roads, railways.

De Vecchi,

no one would like to be in the middle of the action more than me.

But we are the brain, and the brain must remain safe.

Hmm.

Cesare, come and see.

- What? - Come. Come.

Look.

- Good Lord. - Did you see? - The Royal Army.

"Safe", huh?

Enemies of the fatherland.

- Blackshirts! - What are you trying to do? Are you crazy?

Wake up! Wake up! Come on! Come on, drunkards, get up! Everybody here!

Get down! Call everyone!

No, no, no, no. This is not the time. The Duce is negotiating.

Blackshirts, over to me!

See you in hell, De Vecchi.

Are you nervous?

No, not at all.

Oh!

- What news do you have? - Shh!

Go away.

Facta continues to look for you.

How many ministries? Good. Very good.

- But that was before. - Before what?

Some blackshirt garrisons moved ahead of time.

The early insurrection has alarmed the forces of the Kingdom.

Facta has mobilized the army,

and has asked for an urgent meeting with the King.

- Has he mobilized the army? - Yes.

- We have to go. - What's going on?

This is the time to go, like I told you.

Take your things.

- Let's go! - Shh!

Fuck you. Let's go.

Was that the plan?

The plan was to raise tensions, to have our demands accepted,

- not to go to war. - Oh, and where?

Switzerland.

You wanted to escape to Switzerland.

Only if things got really bad, Cesarino.

Switzerland is so crepuscular, not at all futuristic.

What are you saying?

What are you even saying? Lenin planned the Bolshevik

revolution from there, in exile.

And you gave the command to those three, so that the blame would fall on them.

- If I fall, fascism dies. - Not if one falls with honor.

One shouldn't have fallen, one shouldn't have fallen.

It was a bluff, don't you understand? A bluff! A set-up.

Benito, you were leaving without me!

But then I would have come back to get you.

They mobilized the army, so what?

So they shoot at us, they tear us to pieces.

So you run away without me,

rather than see if they would really do it?

But once we find out, it's too late.

The army should have surrendered, without firing a shot.

Instead we are the ones surrendering.

History will laugh at us.

I would rather death.

- But look at reality! - I see the reality!

- Shh! - Fuck off!

Crepuscolar, melancholic indeed.

What did you think you were going to do?

- Become a minister. - Me too.

Instead, they'll shoot us for high treason.

And that madman over there...

How can we shoot people with their dicks out,

who piss on us?

Come on under it, at least.

The umbrella is a bourgeois relic, the weapon of the Pope's soldiers.

A people that uses an umbrella, cannot make a revolution.

Salute to the Duce!

If we don't reach an agreement before midnight,

we'll go to Switzerland. And let go of Facta, damn it.

So, they're looking for him.

Three ministries, five undersecretaries.

I think you can ask for more.

I'm happy with two ministries and four undersecretaries.

Let's say I'm happy with not being shot at.

- How long does it take? - I hear voices. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Yes, I'm still here.

Yes...

Yes, I understand.

- What did you understand? - Shh.

All right, thanks.

President Facta is not there.

He is with the King.

We are hearing reports of uprisings in various parts of the Kingdom.

As a precaution, we have mobilized the army

and are awaiting your orders, Your Majesty.

He made me believe that he would join the government,

instead he wanted to take over the government.

I have failed, Sire. I resign.

The fascists are rising up, there is no government and it is impossible to make one.

You were my last chance.

Being the King of this country is the most thankless job in the world.

What if I resigned too?

Your Majesty, a King cannot resign.

- I can abdicate. - And leave your son in trouble?

Look how tall he is.

Sometimes I wonder who he got it from.

- Your Highness... - What are you doing, Facta, mocking?

On the contrary, Sire. I believe that you are the last pillar - Again?

Your Majesty, as my last act,

I suggest declaring a state of siege.

To repress the fascist barbarity.

The royal army will have no difficulty in wiping out that violent and

deceitful rabble. Once order is restored, we will think about the government.

Should I give the order to shoot at my people?

Hasn't there been enough shooting already?

But the royal army is sure that a signal of reaction will be enough

and the fascists will crumble, if we crush them immediately.

Let there be a state of siege.

Prepare the decree, and I will sign it.

Go into position!

The army.

Quick!

- Will they shoot us? - Now you ask?

- Maybe then it's time... - Shh!

Stop.

Turn on the photoelectric cells. Light!

Light!

- Benito, what do we do? - Silence, silence.

- Benito? - Benito!

He runs away.

He's capable of getting himself killed.

Major?

Major?

- Do you know who I am? - Of course, sir.

- "Honorable". - Honorable, of course.

May I know your name?

Tufano Nicola, "Honorable".

Tufano, your presence here makes me understand

that you are completely unaware of the latest news.

The fascist militias have risen up and all of Italy, up to Rome,

has fallen into our hands.

Find out. The army has been consigned to the barracks.

Find out, Tufano, find out.

And know, that I will remember you, Tufano.

Tufano.

And you, idiots, pass me the command, what are you waiting for?

The decree of the state of siege, Your Majesty.

Sire, there are columns of blackshirts marching towards Rome.

Unless you sign, we cannot open fire.

It is no longer possible to delay.

Leave me alone.

Why are you still up?

I'm working.

It's really late.

I'm coming.

I'm coming.

Fuck.

Another copy!

Yes, sir. Clear, sir.

Over and out.

Cover. Cover.

What... what's going on?

The major has received a communication.

He looked up, over here.

Holy shit.

He approaches the gunner.

Holy shit, holy shit.

I couldn't imagine dying tonight,

but had I known, I would have chosen this dress.

You too.

You look good in a gala dress.

- Answer. - Why me?

Answer, damn it. They would see me.

You're the closest.

Crawl, damn it.

- But... - Answer!

Crawl.

Hello?

I didn't understand.

The King hasn't signed?

What?

What?

- What? - The King hasn't signed.

Benito...

Did we win?

We won.

"I" won. "I" won.

Why didn't the King sign?

He didn't want to shed blood?

He didn't trust his own army?

Did he sense that there was no alternative?

Or did he simply think: "Who's making me do this?"

Did he think that evil could be the cure?

Or did he feel that an era was ending and it was useless to oppose?

We'll probably never know.

But here's what we know.

We know that things went exactly as I said.

Would you have bet on it?

No.

It seems that people like me, you don't understand them.

You see us as clowns, liars, buffoons, scandalous.

Maybe, maybe. But it's irrelevant. We are the new.

Every era has one,

a man who thinks he can achieve his dreams on his own.

39 years old, a gypsy of politics.

In parliament for 16 months, son of a blacksmith.

And now, the King is waiting for me in Rome, to appoint me Prime Minister.

The youngest Prime Minister in the world.

Where have you been?

Hurray for Mussolini!

You see, Chiletta?

It will be the best time of our lives.

You'll be the First Lady.

What does that mean?

The First Lady, the most important woman in the country.

You know me, I'm easily pleased.

Say hello.

It would be enough for me to be the most important woman to you.

You are. You are.

Now more than ever.

Sit down.

Sit down.

Go ahead, maestro.

Thank you.

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Will we ever leave?

Be patient. They love you.

Duce! Duce! Duce!

From now on, everything will have to go perfectly.

I don't want a late train anymore.

Lord, make sure we don't change.

Make sure we don't give in to pride and vanity.

To pride and vanity.

October 30th 1922, 11:05 AM

Congratulations.

Now that you obtained what you wanted...

..do us a favor, send your people home.

Your Majesty, they walked for days to reach Rome.

Let's make them happy, let's let them march.

Rome! Rome! Rome!

Rome! Rome! Rome!

Rome! Rome! Rome!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Gentlemen.

What I am doing today, in this hall,

is an act of formal deference to you,

and for which I ask for no specific attestation of gratitude.

Now,

the best part of the Italian people,

bypassed the ministry and gave himself a government above,

beyond and against any designation from parliament.

I leave...

..to the melancholic zealots of super constitutionalism

the task of disserting, more or less plaintively, on this.

I affirm...

..that the revolution has its rights.

And I am here to defend

and strengthen to the maximum the revolution of the black shirts!

I refused to win by a landslide, enen though I could have won by a landslide.

I imposed limits on myself.

With 300,000 young people, armed to the teeth, determined to do anything,

and almost mystically ready to follow my orders...

..I could have punished all those who have defamed

and attempted to smear fascism.

I could have made this dull and gray chamber a bivouac of gangs.

Long live parliament! Long live!

Long live!

I could have... I could have barred parliament!

And created a government exclusively of fascists.

I could have, but I didn't want to.

We must protest, to make the Chamber dignified.

This Chamber has the government it deserves.

Gentlemen.

I don't want to govern against the Chamber.

As long as I can.

But the Chamber must acknowledge its particular situation,

one that makes it as possible to dissolve it in two days,

as in two years!

Duce! Duce! Duce!

Democracy survives,

by my kind permission. For now.

See that you behave

Duce! Duce! Duce!